Since Apple unveiled iPhone X with face-recognition functionality in early November 2017, interest in 3D sensing technology has reached fever pitch and attracted huge investments across the related supply chains. The global market for 3D depth sensing is estimated at US$1.5 billion in 2017 and will grow at a CAGR of 209 percent to US$14 billion in 2020, Trendforce estimates. This trend pushes up demand for Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL), a key component for 3D depth sensing technology. SEMI estimates that the global VCSEL market will grow at a CAGR of 17.3 percent between 2016 and 2022, and the total value of the market is expected to reach US$1 billion by 2022.

In light of the significant market growth potential and business opportunities, SEMI Taiwan recently organized the 3D Depth Sensing & VCSEL Technology Seminar, where industry experts from Qualcomm, Lumentum, Himax, Vertilite and IQE gathered to explore the technology trends and potentials from different perspectives. Following are the key takeaways from the Forum:

Not just iPhoneX! Expect a boom in 3D depth sensing

The real-time and depth cue feature of the 3D sensor is essential to enable the next-generation computer vision (CV) applications. Improvements in 3D recognition, machine learning, and 3D image segmentation promise to stoke significant growth across a wide range of applications including long-range automotive LiDAR, short-distance AR/VR devices, facial recognition in the low-light environment inside a car and more.

Structured light and time of flight (TOF) are currently the two key approaches to 3D sensing, and VCSEL is the core light source for both technologies. VCSEL’s advantages of small footprint, low cost, low power consumption, circular beam shape, optical efficiency, wavelength stability over temperature and high modulating rate are all indispensable for 3D sensing to flourish. In the longer term, improvements in component R&D, algorithm writing, and supply chain integration will further expand the 3D sensing market.

Optimistic about the proliferation of 3D sensing applications, The SEMI Taiwan Power and Compound Semiconductor Committee plans to organize a special interest group to better respond to technology evolution and rising applications of the emerging optoelectronic semiconductor and to drive innovations and development of the industry. SEMICON Taiwan 2018 will also include a theme pavilion and a series of events to enable more communications and collaborations. To learn more, please contact Emmy Yi, SEMI Taiwan, at eyi@semi.org or +886.3.560.1777 #205.

FEATURED PRODUCTS

TECHNOLOGY PAPERS

As IP and IC designers and verification teams tackle increased complexity and expectations, reliability verification has become a necessary ingredient for success. Automotive, always-on mobile devices, IOT and other platforms require increasingly lower power envelopes and reduced device leakage while maintaining overall device performance. Foundries have also created new process nodes targeted for these applications. Having the ability to establish baseline checks for design and reliability requirements is critical to first pass success. January 08, 2018Sponsored by Mentor Graphics

The power amplifier (PA) – as either a discrete component or part of an integrated front end module (FEM) – is one of the most integral RF integrated circuits (RFICs) in the modern radio. In Part 2 of this white paper series, you will learn different techniques for testing PAs via an interactive white paper with multiple how-to videos.September 06, 2017Sponsored by National Instruments

WEBCASTS

Since 2006, many of new 3D NAND Flash cells have been proposed and commercialized on the market. Already, we have seen 3D NAND cell structure up to 64L/72L with single or multi-stack NAND string architecture. The memory density on Micron/Intel’s 64L 3D NAND 256 Gb/die reached 4.40 Gb/mm2 (256 Gb/die). In this session, we’ll overview 3D NAND Flash roadmap, products, cell design, structure, materials and process integration. The 3D NAND cell architecture from major NAND manufacturers including Samsung TCAT V-NAND, Toshiba/Western Digital BiCS, SK Hynix P-BiCS and Micron/Intel FG CuA will be reviewed and compared. Current and future technology challenges on 3D NAND will be discussed as well.

MEMS have quite different process and material requirements compared to mainstream microprocessor and memory types of devices. We will explore the latest trends in MEMS devices – including sensor fusion, biosensors, energy harvesting – new manufacturing challenges and potential equipment and materials solutions to those challenges.